SEVEN Namibian students are today expected to arrive in Jamaica to begin a two to three-year programme of study on scholarship from the University of Technology (UTech) and the GC Foster Sports Academy, according to information out of the Jamaican High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.

The programme will include athletics training and other professional disciplines.

Officials from the Namibian Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sports and Culture undertook a scoping mission to Jamaica in November 2012 to explore possible areas of collaboration between the two countries.

They met with the Minister of Youth and Culture, representatives from the ministry responsible for sports, senior officials from the Ministry of Education, UTech, GC Foster Sports Academy and other pertinent agencies and institutions.

That initial groundwork was later enhanced by a visit to Namibia by the President of UTech, Professor Errol Morrison. This visit was initiated by the Jamaican High Commission in Pretoria while the President and a delegation were visiting South Africa in April this year.

During that visit, discussions were held with, inter alia, the Minister of Education, the Permanent Secretary as well as the Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Youth & Culture, and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Namibia and an MOU signed with the Namibian International University of Management.

The cooperation seeks to resuscitate the strong historical bond between both countries and the tradition of cooperation, particularly in the fields of education, science & technology and culture. In that regard, the two countries are moving towards concluding a broad framework agreement to facilitate cooperation in various areas.

Namibia is located in southern Africa and borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south and east.

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UTech, which is headed by professor Errol Morrison, will be hosting Namibian students on scholarship for the next two to three years.